Fairytale of New York
by Lady GreyWolf
Summary: Betty returns to New York for Christmas, Daniel picks her up at the airport, and things between them have changed. A lot. !DETTY! M-rated for later chapters! [CURRENTLY ACTIVE]
1. Chapter 1

**This was supposed to be uploaded before Christmas as part of the _12 Days of FanFic Christmas_ but I didn't have time to do it, so here it comes. It's a short multi-chapter Detty-fic!**

* * *

One signal.

Two signals.

Three signals.

Four signals.

"Who is it?"

The groggy yet familiar voice made her heart jump. She had not heard it in two months, partially because of herself, but she had been so busy with her magazine that calling him had been pushed to the side. Again and again.

"Daniel?" she now said. "It's me. Betty."

The other end of the line was silent for a few moments before the reply came.

"Betty, do you know what time it is?"

"It's noon", Betty replied. "Twelve twenty-six. Are you still in bed?"

"Betty, it's... oh... you're right."

Worry seeped into Betty's mind. Daniel had not spoken like this for years, maybe not since their first year at _MODE_. Something is wrong. Seriously wrong.

"Daniel, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine", Daniel replied. "Are you? How's England?"  
"Rainy and grey last I saw it", Betty replied.

"Well, that sounds... wait, what?"

Something rustled in the background, the covers of his bed most likely. Betty did not have time to stop the fleeting imaginary thought of Daniel stepping out of bed in nothing but a pair of boxers.

"You mean you're in New York?" Daniel said, sounding more awake than earlier. "Or are you..."

"Yes, I'm in New York", Betty replied. "Didn't your mother tell you I was coming?"

Daniel paused.

"She... might've."

"Daniel, what is going on?" Betty demanded to know.

"Betty, it's nothing", Daniel tried to assure her.

"Yeah, right", Betty huffed. "You're going to tell me later whether you like it or not."

"Where are you?" Daniel asked.

"The airport", Betty replied. "Newark."

"I'll come and get you."

"Daniel..."

"Betty, I'm coming."

He hung up before she could protest, leaving her staring at the phone in the crowded hall. She had wanted to suggest meeting some place once she had dropped off her bags at the hotel she would be staying at, but Daniel... well, he was Daniel. And she could not help the thrilled little dance her heart did when she realized that he was on his way here.

* * *

Daniel Meade downed another glass of water in the back of his town car while they slowly made their way towards Newark Airport. His head was pounding due to the lack of sleep, yet he felt more awake than he had in the last two months. She was back. It did not matter if it was just a short visit during Christmas; what mattered was that he could see her again.

Betty had quit her job at _MODE Magazine_ last spring, leaving him heartbroken as he had just realized the depth of his feelings for her, and he had eventually followed her to London. They had rekindled their close friendship but Daniel had at that point also found out that she was seeing someone. A Nathaniel Whatshisname. Betty had seemed happy, though, and he had eventually decided to go back to New York, take a few economics classes (and not flunk them, like he had college) and make his own life. They had talked almost every day during the autumn, whether that meant on the phone, through Skype or e-mails. And then the number of talks had lessened and lessened until about two months ago they ceased completely. Daniel did not know how many times he had contemplated sending her a message or calling her, asking her about it, but he did not want to seem too clingy. They were just friends, after all. At least according to her.

He knew he should be mad at her for calling him like this, completely out of the blue a couple of days before Christmas, but he just could not muster that anger. All he felt was happiness and a giddy excitement. Or perhaps that was last night's drinks making themselves known in his stomach. He hoped not.

The car pulled into an open slot in the airport parking lot and Daniel was out before it had stopped completely, forcing himself not to run towards the entrance marked with _Arrivals_. The hall inside was crowded with people coming to New York for Christmas and he strained his neck to see her. He tried to spot something colourful, something Betty-like, but at this time of the year colours were preferred to black and grey.

In the end it was her voice that caused him to spin around and face her.

"Daniel!"

Everything seemed to stop as he looked at her. Her dark hair was partially hidden beneath a black knit hat, her deep brown eyes were framed by thick black-framed glasses, and she wore a dark grey coat above simple black slacks and shoes. No colour. Even the shirt beneath her coat seemed to be a dull beige thing, no bright red tone with butterflies.

"Betty", he breathed, hardly recognizing her. Then he took two steps towards her and embraced her. When he closed his eyes and inhaled her smell he was able to pretend that everything was fine, that she was still the colourful sparkle that made his day, not this dull grey thing that was completely un-Betty-like. He knew without a doubt that something was wrong, just like she seemed to have been able to tell when they spoke on the phone that something was amiss for him as well.

"Welcome back", he said as he pulled away and straightened. "Had a good trip?"

"Yeah", Betty replied. They looked at each other in silence before Daniel managed to find his voice again and offer to take her bag. A small bag, he noticed. She would not be staying long.

"I'll drop you off at your father's", Daniel said as they climbed into the car. To his surprise Betty shook her head.

"No", she said, "I'm staying at a hotel."

Another surprise.

"Okay", he said, "then I'll drop you off at your hotel."

"Daniel", Betty said, "could... could we stop by your place first? I think we need to talk."

He hesitated before he nodded, then told the driver to take them back to his apartment. The ride home was completely silent.

* * *

**Chapter 2 coming tomorrow!**


	2. Chapter 2

When they arrived at his apartment Betty asked if she could use the bathroom and locked herself in. Daniel removed his coat, his eyes trained on the door in question, before walking over to the counter and preparing some coffee for both of them. In the corner of his eye he saw the red light blinking on his answer machine. It had been doing that for days, but he had not bothered checking the messages. Now he had no choice as his mother had apparently known that Betty was coming to New York and he did not doubt for a second that she would have left a message for him about it. However, he did not like the idea of going through all of those messages while Betty was nearby. He had to wait.

The thought of Betty made his eyes wander to the bathroom door again. What was taking so long? Frowning slightly he walked over and knocked on the wood with his knuckles.

"Betty?" he asked. "Is everything alright in there?"

"Yeah", came her reply. Was it just his imagination or was her voice sounding strangled? As if she had been crying?

"I've made coffee", he said, forcing himself not to pry. "Do you want me to run down and buy us something to eat as well?"

"No, that's fine", Betty replied. "I'll be right out."

Daniel nodded, then realized that she could not actually see him do it. However there was no word he could come up with that would suffice in this situation. At least not one he could come up with; Betty might have, but he could not. So instead he walked back to the counter and poured the coffee into two of the few clean cups. He sent an angry glare towards the pile of dirty glasses and cups in the sink, then realized that it existed because of him.

Right then Betty walked out from the bathroom and smiled at him. Not one of her old smiles, those that had brightened his day for four years more than he had ever admitted to her, but a smile that seemed force. Yep, something was definitely off.

"Sit down", he quickly said, gesturing towards the couch. "I'll bring the coffee."

"Daniel..."

"You spent years bringing me coffee, it's only right that I return the favour", he pointed out, which earned him a quick smile of the old, true kind before Betty turned away and walked towards the piece of furniture he had gestured at. However that smile had caused hope to flutter in Daniel's mind; he could get through to her, he could help her and he would. There was no way Betty would have changed so much in these few months that she had shed her beautiful colours.

"Here we go", he said and placed the cups on the table in front of the couch. "Here's to you being back in New York."

"Here's to Christmas", Betty replied with a strained smile, before raising the cup to her lips. Daniel watched as her eyes closed at the taste of coffee and told himself – for who knew what time – that he had done the right thing to buy himself a coffee brewer and bean grinder so that he could make coffee himself, the way he liked it. Betty seemed to enjoy it immensely as well.

"So", Betty said as she put the cup down, not meeting his gaze, "you still live here."

"Yeah", Daniel replied. "I mean, I've been looking at some other places, but... nothing's been quite right."

In fact most of those places had been located in London, but Betty did not need to know that. He had already acted stalker-y when they had met again in the British capital and rekindled their friendship; there was no need to repeat that event.

"What about you, then?" he asked. "Still live in the same place?"

"Yeah", Betty replied. Daniel's heart leapt again; if she still lived in the small apartment he had visited a few times during his stay in London that meant she and Nathaniel Whatshisname had not moved in together.

"Daniel", Betty said, drawing him back, "I'm sorry for not calling. Or texting. Or e-mailing. But..."

"It's alright", Daniel quickly interrupted.

"No, it's not", Betty answered. "It was just that I needed to focus on the magazine and make sure we got the sales up and..."

She fell silent, her hands clutching the cup of coffee. Daniel set his own one down on the table.

"Betty", he said, "it's alright, I promise."

"Don't lie to me, Daniel", Betty said, shaking her head. "Your mother told me what had happened."

"What, exactly?"

"That you'd... gone back", she replied. "Drinking, partying..."

"Betty", Daniel sighed, "I didn't... go back that much. I didn't become who I was before I met you. Yes, I've been out a lot lately, but... I guess I'm getting old."

Betty's head shot up.

"Old? Daniel, you're not old."

"Past thirty-five is apparently enough to keep me from staying up all night", Daniel replied with a smirk, "or drinking until I don't know what I'm doing. I still get a hangover every time, though."

Betty huffed, though the worry that had been shining out of her eyes was still present. Obviously his mother had scared her with her talk of what he was doing.

"Betty", he said and reached out, taking one of her hands in his, "I'm fine. Really."

She did not reply, though her gaze flickered down to their joined hands for a moment before she pulled free.

"Well, then", she said and rose, "I should be off."

"I'll call the car for you", Daniel said and rose as well.

"No, no, I'll take a cab."

"I insist."

Betty paused, studied him for a few moments and then slowly nodded.

"Alright."

"How come you're not staying at your father's?" Daniel asked. "He's not unwell, is he?"

"No", Betty quickly replied, "no, he's fine. I just didn't want to settle in there and then have to leave tomorrow again."

Daniel nearly dropped his phone.

"You're leaving tomorrow?"

"Daniel", Betty said, placing her hands on her hips, "your mum told me she'd told you this."

"Well, she might've", Daniel said, then nodded at the answering machine, "but I've been too busy to check my messages."

"Really, Daniel? That's a terrible excuse."

With that she walked over to the machine in question and pressed the button that would allow them to listen to the messages.

"_You have twenty-eight new messages_", came the mechanical voice.

"Twenty-eight?" Betty said, spinning around to face him. "Please tell me we won't have to shuffle through a bunch of..."

"_Hey Danny-boy!_"

It was Becks' voice.

"_Just wanted to check where you went last night. You know, I'm perfectly fine handling two girls, but Shauna missed your company._"

Daniel quickly walked over to the machine and pressed the forward button to skip through to his mother's messages. Thank God her name would show up on the display if there was a message from her somewhere on this thing!

"_Daniel, it's me_", came Claire Meade's voice after several uncomfortable seconds of shuffling through messages from Becks and unrecognizable numbers. "_I thought you should know that I've invited Betty's family to spend Christmas with us in Aspen. Betty will be there too; I've arranged for her to fly home on the twenty-second. I will go to Aspen a day before that so I would be very grateful if you could make sure that Betty is brought from the airport to her hotel. The Suarez' will be travelling with me._"

There was a pause before Daniel's mother continued.

"_I hope you'll be able to see some sense when you get these news, Daniel. I really do._"

Then the message ended with Claire stating the time when Betty's flight would arrive at Newark Airport; a couple of hours ago.

"Oh my God", Daniel said and slumped down in a chair. "Betty, I'm so sorry. I should have checked those messages days ago, but..."

"But what, Daniel?" Betty asked, her tone bitter. "Been too busy hanging out with Becks and girls like this Shauna-person who missed your company?"

"Betty, I..."

"_Danny!_"

It was Becks' voice again, though this time it sounded a lot more slurry than it had in the earlier message they had listened to. Daniel moved to shut the answering machine off when Becks continued.

"_Listen_", his old friend slurred, "_I just want you to know that I love that you've found your soulmate, alright? Like, that's a fairytale, Danny! Why are you even here now, dude? Get a horse and ride to her door, haul her off and marry her. Christ, lucky Danny. Lucky Danny!_"

"Jeez", Daniel muttered and reached for the machine again.

"Who is she?" Betty asked before he was able to press the delete button.

"Who?"

"Your soulmate", Betty replied, her voice calm. That was not a typical Betty-voice.

"Betty, I don't know..."

"_Danny and Betty sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!_"


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so, so, _so_ sorry for the long wait, but here it is; the next chapter! I know where I want this story to progress, it's just that I haven't found time or inspiration to write it. Priorities have been elsewhere. But today (on my birthday, actually) I finally found those things and allowed myself to write at least a short chapter. I can't promise another update right away, but I'll definitely try to update quicker than I've done earlier!**

* * *

"_Danny and Betty sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!_" Becks' recorded voice shouted. It seemed to echo off the walls in Daniel's apartment. Betty stared at the answering machine, hardly noticing Daniel's curse and how he then turned the machine off completely by unplugging it. Those eight words – well, one of them was technically a spelled-out version of a word – still kept ringing in her head.

"Betty", Daniel tried. She blinked and looked up to meet his blue eyes. God, they were blue. So _damn_ blue! And now he was making that sincerely sad face that made him resemble a sad puppy that you just could not help to forgive at once. She knew it was not something he had practiced doing and did on purpose; that was just how he looked.

"Betty", he tried again, but no other word came out. She guessed he wanted to apologize, but for what she was not sure. Becks was the one who had shouted that, not him. She wanted to tell him that it was alright, that it was just his friend being drunk – that's what she would have done when she was still his secretary. But now things had changed. They both knew they had, and Betty was not yet sure if they had changed for the better.

She could not breathe. She had to get out of here, away from everything that screamed "Daniel" at her.

"Bye, Daniel", she mumbled and slunk past him, grabbed her bag and almost ran out through the door. While waiting for the elevator she heard a crashing sound from the apartment she had just left. It would not surprise her if Daniel had thrown the answering machine into a wall. Normally she would have headed back, checked that he was alright. Now she stepped into the elevator and urgently pressed the ground floor button. She had to get away from here. Right now.

Daniel's car was pulled up and waiting for her, his driver nodding at her.

"Miss Suarez, I was told to bring you to your hotel", he said. Betty shook her head. She could not step inside that car, not Daniel's car. Not now.

Ignoring the driver's continuous calls for her she turned and headed down the street, hailing a cab by the next crossing. Not until the driver turned on the taximeter did she lean back against the seat and rubbed her forehead, trying to fight off the headache that always came whenever she happened to think of the past. This past year in particular. How could so much have gone wrong so fast? How could she have ended up here?

It had all started when she was in London for Hilda's bachelorette party – and London Fashion Week, which she was covering for _MODE Magazine_. That was when she had first been approached by Lindsay Dunne, who had offered her what she had always wanted; the opportunity to start and run her own magazine. She had called him to say yes during Hilda's wedding and had then tried over and over again to find the right moment to tell Daniel that she was leaving – not just _MODE_ but the country. In the end he had received the news through a goodbye party invitation – and he had definitely not taken it well. She knew when he signed her release form (the second one, since he burned the first) that she had broken his heart and that their friendship was lost forever. He did not come to the party, he did not say goodbye, something his mother – Claire – hinted was because he loved her. A foolish thought, Betty had said to herself, but while she settled into her new apartment in London she had sometimes thought about the possibility of Daniel loving her. Her, a Latina girl from Queens! Impossible!

And then she had met Nathaniel Faye. Blonde hair always neatly combed, smile always showing his perfect white teeth, green eyes sharp, interested and attentive, and a body that probably made a dozen girls faint every day while he was out jogging. But despite all of this she had not really noticed him until he, one day, brought her coffee for no apparent reason. She had been working in the conference room at the office, trying to sort through plausible articles and adds for the first issue of the magazine, what to publish in later ones and what to, perhaps, scrap completely. She had announced that she intended to do this, make the sorting public, during her first meeting with the editors and had left the door wide open to invite people in, let them comment on the articles. Though no one showed – everyone was still quite unsure about this new concept of hers and preferred to let her hold the reins completely. Which stressed her out _enormously_. She had begun to wish that Daniel was there with her, again, so that she could discuss these things with him. He had always been good at that. And then, suddenly, a cup of steaming hot coffee appeared on the table next to her right hand and when she looked up she looked straight into those sharp green eyes and pearly white smile.

Nathaniel was not an editor or even had goals to become one, which he blamed on being dyslectic. He made money working as a technician, helping out with the various problems that occurred at a magazine company like _Dunne's_. Technical stuff he could learn without reading a manual, he claimed, and so far he had not been to blame for anything that happened in the building – rather he was the one to call when some technical trouble _did_ happen.

They had talked and laughed and had a generally good time that afternoon and, in the end, Nathaniel had asked her out to dinner. One dinner had become two, then three, then a whole week of dinners, then a night at his place and then it was official; Betty and Nathaniel were an item. The women at the job congratulated her while also voicing just how jealous they were that Betty got the "hot technician" who had, seemingly, turned down every other woman there. That did nothing if not boost her confidence and the two got more intimate. She almost forgot about her own apartment for a while, even considered moving some stuff to Nathaniel's because it was closer to work and – frankly – she did spend at least five nights per week there.

She had been trying to work up the courage to actually talk to him about it when she had run into Daniel – in London. And everything had just seemed so right. Their friendship was back on track and now it was not troubled by a boss-assistant slash boss-editor relationship. It was just them being friends. Claire's words about Daniel being in love with her, with Betty, had seemed distant and nowhere close to real – Nathaniel seemed like he was in love with her, Daniel was just her best friend. There was a difference.

For some reason Nathaniel had not even come up as a subject during the times she and Daniel had met up in London, until that (fatal) April night when they had had dinner at a restaurant close to where Nathaniel lived and had then run into him. Betty had (of course) greeted him with a kiss – she was his girlfriend, after all – and then Nathaniel had greeted Daniel, said "Betty's told me all about you" and then politely asked if they would like to come back to his apartment for a drink. Daniel had declined, saying that he had to get some sleep before his early flight back to New York.

Daniel had not said anything about flying back home. Not even a slight hint that he was leaving. She had declined Nathaniel's offer of a drink just to ask Daniel about this, at which point he said that he had not known how to tell her. He apologized, over and over again, and of course she had forgiven him, wished him a safe flight, asked him to look in on her family whenever he had the time. She knew her father liked Daniel and that Daniel liked him, so why should she not ask him to do that? And then they had said goodbye, on a dark April night in London.

They had called, Skyped, e-mailed, texted, but over time that got less and less frequent. She blamed it on the magazine. Of course she did. But deep inside she knew that there was a completely different set of reasons as to why she had not talked to him for months before today. And those reasons all stemmed from that April night when she had kissed Nathaniel Faye right in front of him.

She knew she had broken his heart that night. Again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hellooooo, there's a new chapter! Really, really sorry about the wait; things have been pretty stressful and in order to get going with some fanfics again I've actually had to schedule my posting of chapters - for the first time ever! Hopefully I'll be able to stick to that and I also hope to have this fic finished by Christmas since it is a holiday fic :) Now enjoy!**

* * *

"Damn it!" Daniel yelled. "Damn it! Damn..."

"Is that how you great your mother?" Claire Meade replied over the phone. Daniel felt the urge to throw it into the wall just like he had done with his answering machine, but then thought better of it. He needed his mobile to contact people – to try and talk to Betty again. If she would let him. Right now that did not seem very likely.

"Now, Daniel, what are you on about?" Claire continued.

"Betty", Daniel replied, then cursed as he stepped on a piece from the broken answering machine.

"I assume you picked her up at the airport, like I asked you to?" Claire asked, her voice sharp.

"Yes, mum, I did", Daniel bit back.

"Good", Claire said. "Now, if you two have hit a rough patch, I have no doubt that you'll be able to get past it. You two always did."

"This time I doubt it will be that easy."

Claire laughed softly.

"Oh, Daniel, have a little faith. Now, I hope you have seen the news today..."

"No, I have been busy trying to make things right with Betty."

"Ah. Well, I suggest you take a look. It would seem that you and her won't be able to join us in Aspen after all."

"Wait", Daniel said, frowning, "what? Why?"

He turned on the TV and zapped between the channels until he found one broadcasting the news. A blizzard. There was a large snowstorm heading towards New York; people were being told to stay indoors during Christmas as it was predicted to hit on the eve of the twenty-third. Roads would be closed down and, of course, the airports. There would be no flights arriving at or leaving any of New York's airports until the snowstorm had passed and the snow had been cleared away.

"Daniel", Claire said, "if you and Betty have hit a rough patch, use this time to set things right with her. Use Christmas to set things right."

"I doubt she will ever want to talk to me again", Daniel sighed and slumped back onto the couch.

"Daniel, this is Betty. You know her better than anyone else, beside her family. She is your friend and she won't just let that friendship go again."

Daniel wanted to say that he was not sure that was true anymore, that things had changed, but he did not manage to get the words out. Partially because saying them would make them true, but also because of that he was quite a stubborn guy. He knew that something had happened to Betty during these months they had been apart, something that had changed everything between them, and he was intent on finding out what. He would not stop until he had mended what was between him and Betty.

He said goodbye to his mother and headed back into his bedroom, flinging himself onto the unmade bed. Him and Betty would be stuck in New York for Christmas and, if he did everything right, these days might turn out perfectly. He looked at the screen of his phone, then sighed and put it on the bedside table; he had to wait. Betty was still upset with him and sending a text to her right now would not help neither her or him. Especially not him, because if she did not respond right away – and he knew she would not – he would be heartbroken. Again. And then he would start sending more texts. Text after text after text until she finally decided to text or call him, but by then she would be annoyed and never want to see him again. No, he had to play his cards right. He had to be patient.

Despite not feeling entirely comfortable with it, Daniel decided to head out into the throng of Christmas shoppers. Even if Betty might not agree to his plan when it was presented to her he needed to do something about his apartment to make it more festive – and he needed food for the holidays. It did not have to be a turkey or anything like that, but food nevertheless. In the end he bought a dozen frozen pizzas and as much ice cream as he thought he would be able to fit in his freezer. There really was no other option; thanks to his late start in the morning everyone else had already seen the news and made sure to stack up on food for the holidays if they were planning to stay in the city. Of course that also meant there was a shortage on beverages, but Daniel was quite sure he had enough of those at home. He also picked up various decorations – none of them very fancy but still festive – and once he was back at his apartment he set to work decorating it.

It was nearly 8pm when he finally considered himself done and at that point he picked up his phone. As expected there were no messages from Betty, but it had been a couple of hours since their parting and now he would not seem clingy if he sent her a text. And he might not be as disappointed if she did not text back at once. Might. Nevertheless he quickly wrote the short text he had been meaning to write all day and pressed send.

_I miss you_.

Then he sat down on the couch, turned on the TV and tried to watch that instead of the phone in his hand. Something he soon realized he was not good at and it also made him slightly anxious since the minutes ticked by without a response from Betty. In fact he was almost certain there was something wrong with the phone and that the text had not been sent at all when it finally vibrated in his hand and a reply popped up on the screen.

_I'm sorry, Daniel, but I can't do this. Not now._

Not the reply he would have liked, but a reply nevertheless. He immediately set to writing another text.

_Why? Betty, I need to talk to you. I need to explain myself._

Betty's response was quicker this time.

_I just can't. It's complicated. Terribly complicated._

Alright, still not perfect, but it was a conversation of a sort. All Daniel needed to do now was convince her to come and see him tomorrow and then they could talk things through and patch things up and plan how to spend Christmas during a blizzard in New York. As friends. Nothing else.

_Betty, please. Let's meet on the bridge tomorrow. Our bridge._

_I'll wait for you at 10am. We can go have coffee, talk things_

_through properly. You don't have to reply to this; if you don't_

_show tomorrow I won't bother you again. I promise._

As expected there was no reply and, to make sure he did not check his phone for a possible one all through the night, Daniel turned it off before heading to bed. It still took him a few hours to fall asleep and when he finally slept his dreams were filled with the images of a beautiful, short Latina, dark corridors and, gleaming green eyes and pearly white teeth.

* * *

**Next chapter should be up on the 28th of November; I'll be busy next weekend so I won't have any time to write then.**


End file.
